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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27068596">Final Boss</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mythyk/pseuds/Mythyk'>Mythyk</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>HLVRAI - Fandom, Half-Life: VR but the AI is Self-Aware</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Multiplayer au, Neopronouns, benry talks with lowercase, but also i did reread/edit a small bit (like i always do), does glitching count as body horror, everyone else is a player, glitching, gordon is ai, he/him gordon, he/him tommy, i'm spelling it Benry because i feel like it, it/its dr coomer, no beta we die like benry, they/them benry, vague descriptions of glitching, xe/xer bubby</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-09 00:22:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,286</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27068596</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mythyk/pseuds/Mythyk</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Right at the end, when they arrive in the Nihilanth’s chamber, Gordon breaks completely.<br/>(AU where Gordon is the AI and the rest are players. Assume most of this follows the canon plot otherwise.)<br/>(Also I don't think you need much context other than that)<br/></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Benrey &amp; Bubby &amp; Tommy Coolatta &amp; Dr. Coomer &amp; Gordon Freeman, Benrey &amp; Gordon Freeman, Bubby &amp; Gordon Freeman, Gordan Freeman &amp; The Science Team</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>83</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Final Boss</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They were a mess.</p><p>It wasn’t just that the world around them kept glitching (which <em>absolutely</em> scared them), no. That was the least of their worries.</p><p>What worried them was that <em>Gordon</em> was glitching.</p><p>He wasn’t – no, he could glitch. But he was supposed to reset. That’s what it was. He could glitch, but that always meant that he’d reset soon and – and everything could go back to some relative normalcy, right? Let him forget what upset him, and keep playing.</p><p>But how can you play when the Nihilanth didn’t even appear?</p><p>If they were being honest with themself, that was probably the moment they knew things were going to go wrong.</p><p>“yo, uh, what’s up with this place?” they hesitated. They knew about this cavern. Even with basic video game logic, this sort of place looked like where the big bad was supposed to be.</p><p>“I’m with Benry on this one,” Bubby said. Xe was looking around, frowning. “There’s nothing here!”</p><p>“U-um, Mister Freeman-?”</p><p>Benry whipped their head around, looking at Tommy. Despite Tommy’s usually nervous demeanor, his voice had sounded… <em>scared</em>. Genuinely scared. They followed his gaze, and when they found what they were looking for, they froze. Gordon was glitching even worse now.</p><p>They were used to seeing glitching, the kind that always built up right before a reset. But this? Gordon should have reset two times over already.</p><p>And he was <em>laughing</em>.</p><p>“gordon…?” Benry took a step towards him. They had to make sure he was okay.</p><p>Gordon looked at Benry. His eyes were nothing but static, but Benry could feel his gaze burning into them. The grin on his face was stretched out, too wide, and lacked any form of joy. The pink-and-black error texture flickered around him, adding to the crawling static and Benry’s fear.</p><p>“You want to know why it’s not here?”</p><p>His voice was quiet. So, so quiet. But it felt like he was speaking directly into Benry’s ears, their head, <em>inches</em> away, not <em>thirty feet</em> and something about his voice felt even more off than that –</p><p>“It’s because I deleted it.”</p><p>What had felt off roared to life, static and white noise taking over more of the soundscape – <em>Gordon</em> was doing that. He was also changing, and everything was going <em>wrong</em>. So, <em>so</em> wrong.</p><p>“<em>It’s not real. It never was. This is your fault.</em>”</p><p>Gordon’s voice broke into static and laughter as he grew larger, his model changing constantly – one moment, himself, the next moment the Nihilanth, then something else entirely, and something that could have been a combination – the glitching was giving them a headache, but they couldn’t look away. More of the static and error texture surrounding him, reaching out towards them-</p><p>Tommy dragged Benry back, causing them to lose their footing for a moment. Their gaze was torn away from the glitched-eldritch being.</p><p>“We have to go!” he cried, tugging on their arm. “We’ve got to run!”</p><p>Benry didn’t have to be told twice, no matter how much they wanted to try and help Gordon. Bubby and Dr. Coomer were ahead of them, having found an exit from the place already.</p><p>“<em>Don’t leave!</em>”</p><p>Benry had to leave. They wanted to stay. They didn’t know what to do. They let themself be dragged away by Tommy.</p><p>---</p><p>“We can’t go back.”</p><p>“we have to help him!”</p><p>Benry pleaded with Bubby, who stood with xer arms crossed, peering down at Benry’s shorter model.</p><p>“Do you really think we can beat something that can <em>delete code</em>?” xe sneered.</p><p>“we can help someONE calm down!” they replied. “we can HELP him!”</p><p>“I don’t know if we can,” Dr. Coomer stated, sitting cross-legged on the ground.</p><p>Benry whipped around, glaring at him. “what do you MEAN?” they snapped.</p><p>It looked up at the security guard. “Isn’t he mad at us?” it asked quietly. “Do we know what he wants anymore? Does he know?” It stood up, walking over to them. “Unless we know more, I don’t think that it would be safe to approach him,” it patted their shoulder sympathetically, despite the fact neither of them could feel it.</p><p>They stepped away. “so what are we supposed to do? exit the game forever? leave gordon to suffer? huh?” they asked.</p><p>“No, we can’t do that to him,” Dr. Coomer shook its head. “But there are missing pieces we need before we can do anything about it.”</p><p>The room stilled, each becoming lost in their own thoughts. Benry sat themself down, their gaze fixed on the spongy alien ground.</p><p>Tommy broke the silence. “Did- didn’t Gordon tell us not to- not to leave?”</p><p>“We can’t exactly do that when he’s about to crush us if we don’t move,” Bubby retorted. “But sure, let’s stick around for that monstrosity!”</p><p>“mnehmehmyeh,” Benry mumbled.</p><p>“Now is not the time to be a <em>child</em>,” xe snapped.</p><p>“be adult and go talk to angy then.”</p><p>Bubby paused, staring at them. They watched xem from the corner of their eye, waiting to see how xe’d react. It wasn’t like they were going anywhere anytime soon.</p><p>(Well, they could exit the game, but none of them were thinking about that at the moment.)</p><p>Xe sighed, looking away from Benry. “How are we supposed to, when he’s…” xe gestured vaguely in the direction they had come, letting xer voice trail off into nothing.</p><p>“Maybe…” Tommy started. “Maybe if we- don’t attack him, he’ll not- he won’t fight back.”</p><p>Bubby glanced over to him, slowly saying, “I’m not so sure about that.”</p><p>“We have to try,” Dr. Coomer replied. “It’s all we’ve got.”</p><p>With everyone in agreement, Benry stood up and grinned.</p><p>“let’s go.”</p><p>---</p><p>Despite wanting to talk to Gordon, the group stayed hidden as they re-entered the giant cavern, seeing the still-glitching gargantuan figure sitting in the water.</p><p>Bubby was the first to speak, voice low, not wanting to alert the AI to their position.</p><p>“…So.”</p><p>“so,” Benry replied.</p><p>“Are we all going to walk out there and talk to him, then?”</p><p>“I guess so,” they shrugged.</p><p>For a moment, none of them moved, looking at the others. Feeling like there was something more to say, but none of them could think of what it was.</p><p>Benry took the initiative, stepping out into the open. They ignored the quiet, panicked cries of their friends, the hands reaching to hold them back with last minute doubt.</p><p>“gordon.”</p><p>No backing out now.</p><p>The massive being turned towards them, eyes appearing along his arms and looking down at them.</p><p>“<em>What do you want.</em>”</p><p>Gordon’s voice was directly in their ears, clear as day despite the whispering static that came with it. His eyes shifted slightly behind Benry, and they heard splashes behind them; their team joining them.</p><p>“let’s talk.”</p><p>“<em>What?</em>” it sounded like an accusation, a hiss and sharp flare of static causing them all to wince.</p><p>However, Benry noted that he hadn’t tried attacking them. Yet. Hopefully it would be a trend.</p><p>“let’s talk bro. chat with the homies. emo time with the team.”</p><p>Despite how inhuman he looked at this point, Benry could still see the incredulous expression across his face. The static surged and broke like ocean waves – heh, just like Tommy would say – and Benry kept watching the AI. They sat down in the water, waiting for Gordon to come up with a response.</p><p>“Why would I do that?”</p><p>Gordon’s voice was more normal. Maybe he wanted to talk too? Or was he just super confused? Benry hoped he wanted a conversation.</p><p>“you mad at us, bro? wanna talk your feelings out? tell us whatcha thinkin?” Sometimes Benry hated how they talked, but at this point they just wanted things to be as understandable and coherent as they could muster at the best of times. They were harder to understand when they were scared, they knew that. They were surprised they could still <em>think</em> coherently with how loud their heart was.</p><p>“<em>Why</em> would I talk to<em> you when I’m mad at YOU?</em>” Uh oh, Gordon Staticman back at it again. That was probably a bad sign. He was shifting closer; wait was he about to shoot his gun-</p><p>“What Benry- Benry wants to- to understand!” Tommy cried out, causing Gordon to stop in surprise, looking over at him. “We w-wanna understand!”</p><p>It seemed the AI was confused. Stunned, at least. Benry knew they didn’t have anything useful to add, so they just kept watching him. The static died down to a simmer, Gordon’s form shrinking ever so slightly. Benry probably wouldn’t have noticed if it weren’t for how closely they were watching him.</p><p>“I believe you said it was our fault,” Dr. Coomer added. “Would you be willing to explain that to us? We do want to help, if we can.”</p><p>Gordon looked between each of them, one by one. Watched their expressions, their body language. Benry kept eye contact with him, no matter how much they hated it. They hoped Gordon could tell they wanted to help too.</p><p>After a few tense moments, the AI shrunk back even further, crossing his arms and looking away – with his head. Other eyes were still watching the team.</p><p>“You. You’ll leave me here.” His voice was flat. Defeated. Resigned to the outcome he thought would come. “Win the game with or without me.”</p><p>The other members of the group had walked forward, and Benry saw them look between each other, uneasy, as Gordon spoke. That was how games usually worked, but…</p><p>“what if. what if we matrix our way out of this.” Benry wasn’t sure of what they were saying beyond a vague idea. “go all doki doki, mess with the game. steal the files.”</p><p>All of Gordon’s eyes narrowed at Benry as he hissed, “Is this still a <em>joke</em> <em>to you?</em>” the static rising again.</p><p>“naw bro let’s do it. epic gamer moments. hacker voice ‘I’m in.’ real deal, bro.”</p><p>Bubby looked at Benry for a moment, before clearing xer throat. “I… I might know a way to do that.” Xe didn’t look at Gordon, splashing the water around with a leg. “It… would be difficult, but I. Might. Be able to do that.”</p><p>Gordon’s eyes widened. “You… you’d do that?”</p><p>“Shut- of course I would!” xe snapped, looking up at the entity. “You’re our- you’ve been our friend this entire time. Even- even if I did some pretty cruel things. Even if we all did bad things.” Xer voice died off as they looked away again, ashamed.</p><p>“Gordon,” Dr. Coomer spoke up, “I know we’ve all done horrible things to you, but… if you’re willing, we’d all do our best to take you out of the game, see the world, even,” it smiled hesitantly, arms spreading out as if gesturing to something unseen by the others.</p><p>Gordon kept staring at them all. Benry decided they could contribute, no matter how dumb the idea was.</p><p>“I could mod stuff, give you epic gamer hacks,” they said. “gordon hackman, epic cheat mode on, best in town super adventure times.” They weren’t a true programmer like Bubby, but they could still help Gordon have fun. In the digital world.</p><p>Somehow that managed to get a laugh out of the AI. Give it up for Benry, best comedy genius in town.</p><p>At the same time… Gordon was shrinking.</p><p>“You’d… you’d really do all that for me.”</p><p>He was smiling. Gordon was smiling. Genuinely smiling.</p><p>“’course. we’re best friends.”</p><p>It looked like Gordon was about to retort, but resigned to simply shaking his head.</p><p>“So… what now?”</p><p>“Do we have to finish the game?” Bubby glanced at the others. “Because… we could leave now. Just to access the code. Get to work,” xe explained. “Leaving the game, but. Not you, Gordon.”</p><p>“I’m… not sure,” Gordon hesitated. “I think it’s too corrupted for a… a script…” He glitched momentarily, resolidifying after a moment. “Yeah, no. It’s busted.”</p><p>“We- we could bring you to a specific map, maybe? Wherever you… you want to be?” Tommy glanced over at Bubby.</p><p>“No… to keep it safe – the files – I’d have to shut down the game entirely,” xe shook their head. “I don’t want to do anything risky. And I have no idea what I’ll be looking at once we’re out of here.”</p><p>“We could give him a nice view for the last moments before then,” Dr. Coomer supplied. “A small comfort, but still a comfort.”</p><p>“Alright. Gordon, where do you want to go?” Bubby looked slightly irritable, but that was normal. Xe was probably anxious to get to work as soon as possible.</p><p>The AI shrugged. “It… doesn’t really matter to me… but maybe the, uh, start?” He rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, attempting to elaborate. “Where I first started meeting you all.”</p><p>Bubby nodded curtly, then turned to one side, looking at something only xe could see. “Bringing us all there, right… now.”</p><p>Everyone was dropped into an empty, pristine entrance lobby. It was… eerily quiet, despite the people all standing together.</p><p>Bubby broke the silence. “Let’s <em>gooooooo</em>, you can all see Gordon again soon,” xe made shooing motions towards the others.</p><p>Reluctantly, with gentle goodbyes, Tommy and Dr. Coomer disconnected, their models disappearing instead of the usual ragdolling they did. Bubby and Benry stared at each other for a few seconds. Xe tapped xer foot impatiently.</p><p>“Well?”</p><p>Benry blinked. “uh, yeah. see- see you soon, feetman.” They went to their menu settings. As they hit the button, they turned to Gordon and smirked, “peace.”</p><p>Gordon smiled. Nervous, of course he’d be nervous, but… he also looked hopeful. Benry hoped that Gordon could consider them all friends, despite everything. They smiled.</p><p>Things might have been a mess, but it would be okay.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope y'all liked this! I just had an idea for the final bit and so I wanted to write it out, so I did that.<br/>I think asthecrowrambles (on tumblr) indirectly contributed a lot to my brain for the player perspectives (go check out their au). Though I wrote this on my own. Just know I was thinking about those players.<br/>If you guys are interested, I have a longer project in progress you could check out: "(If) You Were Real," a post-game au.<br/>Thanks for reading! Always feel free to leave a comment :&gt;</p></blockquote><div class="children module" id="children">
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